Pie of the Week: Chocolate Oatmeal Pie

Oatmeal, with its nutty, toasty flavor and significant texture, is a fantastic dessert ingredient that has been undeservedly overlooked. I'm basing this statement on a year's worth of market research during my part-time job at Mrs. Field's during my senior year of high school.

At the end of each shift, it was always the oatmeal raisin cookies that remained in the case (never the chocolate chip or white chocolate macadamia nut), destined to become late night snacks for fellow food court employees, sold at bargain basement prices. My theory behind this sad statistic is this: somewhere along the way, oatmeal got pigeonholed alongside raisins, and chocolate is going to beat out raisins in every single round.

It's high time that oatmeal be given its chance to shine. Luckily, the sisters who started the adorable Brooklyn pie shop Four and Twenty Blackbirds came along and created a chocolate oatmeal pie. It's got a flaky all butter crust, layered with a silky, slightly melted chocolate ganache, a delicious layer of sweet, sticky oats in the middle, and a layer of caramelized, crispy oatmeal on top. It's better known around Serious Eats HQ as the pie that national editor Erin Zimmer (resident oatmeal lover) will do just about anything for, which is why she requested that I create a copycat recipe.

With some tasting feedback from the SE team and some insight about the ingredients from Emily Elsen, co-owner of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, I've pieced together a respectably similar recipe for your enjoyment. The richness of the chocolate plays together beautifully with the hearty oats in a way that will delight oatmeal cookie lovers and pie lovers alike.

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About the author: Lauren Weisenthal has logged many hours working in restaurant kitchens and bakeries of Brooklyn and Manhattan. She is a graduate of the Artisan Bread Baking and Pastry Arts programs at the French Culinary Institute. You can follow her on Twitter at @evillagekitchen.

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About the Author

Lauren Weisenthal has logged many hours working in restaurant kitchens and bakeries of Brooklyn and Manhattan. She is a graduate of the Artisan Bread Baking and Pastry Arts programs at the French Culinary Institute and holds a CS Certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers.